HUNDREDS attended a candlelit vigil in Delhi, demanding a societal shift and the proper raising of children to prevent rape.

INDIAN protesters yesterday demanded changes in society to prevent the scourge of rape.

Hundreds held the latest in a series of candlelit vigils in Delhi, saying children must be brought up properly to stop more women falling victim.

The latest protest came hours after the young victim of a brutal gang rape in the Indian capital was cremated amid tight security.

The crowd carried banners calling for justice for Damini, the nickname they have given to the 23-year-old physiotherapy student after the innocent heroine of an Indian film.

She has not been officially named to protect her family.

The young woman’s body was flown home from Singapore, where she was flown for treatment in a last-ditch attempt to save her life, early yesterday morning.

She clung to life for 13 days after she was raped, abused and beaten by a gang on a moving bus. But she died on Saturday.

One of the protesters, social worker Murphy John, said: “This incident should open our eyes to the fact that we need to raise our children right, we need to raise the people right.”

The victim’s body, in a gold coffin, was met at the airport by her parents, along with PM Manmohan Singh and the head of India’s governing Congress party Sonia Gandhi.

Authorities kept her funeral secret and private to prevent a feared outbreak of violence.

And they had wanted it held before dawn to minimise the risk of crowds gathering. But Hindu tradition forbids such rituals before sunrise.

So at 7.30am, just over three hours after the girl’s body arrived back in India, her emotional father lit the funeral pyre at a crematorium in the Dwarka district in the presence of her brothers, relatives and others.

Six men, including the driver of the bus, have been charged and could face the death penalty.